Watervliet police, fire departments exceed $800k in overtime

WATERVLIET - Members of the city police and fire departments were paid $813,000 in overtime in 2012, part of which was earned by the nine emergency personnell -- a fireman and eight police officers -- who made more than $100,000 in total wages last year, according to city documents.

The overtime -- $100,000 higher than the year before -- is largely the result of injuries suffered at both departments, said Mayor Mike Manning.

"At any one time, we had as many as four police officers and firefighters out on injuries," said the mayor.

Edward Watson, the highest paid member in either the police or fire department, was paid $55,758 in overtime last year, amounting to total wages of $138,957.An investigator, Watson's overtime is due to being called to testify before courts and to the city's partnerships with other agencies, such as the state police and the DEA, who are able call Watson in for his expertise, said Manning.

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The next highest earners were Patrolman Anthony Harbour, $119,165; Platoon Supervisor Patrick Donlon, $114,845 and Investigator John Morrow at $114,018. They were some of the 14 officers who earned more than $10,000 in overtime in 2012, for a total of $493,385 in police overtime pay.

Harbour and another high earning patrolman, Joshua Spratt, accrued much of the overtime on special traffic enforcement programs. Those included the STOP DWI program, Buckle Up New York and the Albany County Blanket Patrol, which often reimburse municipalities for overtime. They were both commended at a December city council meeting for their arrest percentages regarding alcohol, drug impairment and uniformed traffic tickets.

Injuries were the root reason for much of the overtime, said Manning, with three officers injured on the job -- including Drew Rentz and Christopher Walion -- and another, Brian Murray, who is out on a year-long military deployment. Some of those injuries were suffered prior to 2012.

Because two of the officers have filed for disability, the city had been unable to begin replacing them while awaiting completion of disability filings with the state retirement system. In January, the department was able to move forward with replacements, hiring John Yerry and Tim Burns, who are currently completing their training at the Zone 5 Police Academy in Schenectady. With the addition of the two new members, Manning expects overtime next year will not be quite as high this year.

The Watervliet City Schools resource officer, Mark J. Spain, was also in the top 10. He earned a total of $102,998, including $26,042 in overtime. Much of that was due to his duties at the schools, which are in addition to his primary responsibilities as Third Platoon supervisor, said Manning. Part of Spain's wages are reimbursed by the schools.

The 26-member fire department did not accrue quite as much overtime as the police, but 18 members still earned more than $10,000. "This was a little higher than usual for us," explained Fire Chief Scott Skinner. "We had a lot of injuries."

Three firefighters were injured while working last year and three others were injured while off-duty, explained Skinner. As the department is required to have five members on each shift, every firefighter was needed to cover for those who could not work.

Compounding the overtime was the department's response to a rash of fires in Troy last year, when Watervliet firefighters were either working alongside Troy crews or on standby.

The highest paid firefighter, Capt. Thomas Eagan, earned $105,462 last year and $25,446 in overtime, due largely to his senior status and time spent writing grants. According to the chief, one grant Eagan wrote earned the department $242,000.

Approximately $300,000 of the overtime accrued by both departments last year was reimbursed from various sources, including the court system, the various traffic enforcement programs, some investigations, and various other special programs, explained the mayor.